Frederick Oberlander, A New York Attorney, Not to Be Trusted

On the
behalf of a former employee, Frederick
Oberlander, a New York attorney, claimed in 2010 that an
international real estate investment company committed fraud. Oberlander also
claimed that the firm hid criminal activities by Felix Sater, who is one of the
firm’s partners and is Russian born. The company in question has also developed
projects for Donald Trump, one of which was the Trump SoHo hotel. However, it
has since been revealed that Oberlander is not a person to be trusted.

Court
records show that while litigating the case, Oberlander
committed various ethical violations. Using private data from Sater’s criminal
files is the most atrocious violations committed by Oberlander. The files had
been sealed by a federal judge because Sater was cooperating with the U.S.
government. The release of sealed documents is a direct violation of the court
order. Due to this action, there was a court injunction, which forbad any
further disclosure of information from the sealed records. The Manhattan U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit confirmed that there was such an
injunction.

Oberlander
was sanctioned in 2015 by the federal district court judge overseeing the case.
The judge also dismissed the majority of the allegations in Oberlander’s
complaint. The decision was made by the court because he continually defied the
order that instructed him to convey if there he had included any unlawfully
obtained information in his complaint. Due to his actions, the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Northern District of New York began investigating Oberlander for
criminal behavior. The federal bar grievance committee also was determining if
they should revoke Oberlander’s license to practice law.

In august
of 2018, the grievance committee released a 40-page written order that
determined Oberlander had engaged in criminal behavior that breached various
ethical rules. The grievance committee established that his illegal activities
included infringing court orders, disclosing sealed documentation and
threatening to disclose sealed information if the defendants did not commit to
a financial agreement. It was Oberlander’s criminal actions that lead to the
grievance committee ordering that his legal license be suspended for the period
of one year.

It seems
that reputable law firms do not want to have any dealings with Oberlander.
Richard Lerner, an attorney and friend of Oberlander, represented him in the
case concerning the disclosure of the sealed documents. At the time the
proceeding took place, Lerner was a partner at the highly-regarded Wilson
Elsner law firm. It is quite apparent that the firm did not want to be linked
to Oberlander. They asked to withdraw their representation and were granted
that request by the court. Reportedly, Lerner was fired by the Elsner Wilson
firm because he refused to stop handling Oberlander’s case. It speaks heavily
about Oberlander’s apparent dishonest nature when a reputable firm refuses to
represent him in court. It is clear that Oberlander has exerted unethical
behavior in the past. When his one-year suspension is lifted, he is almost
certain to engage in such illegal and unlawful practices again. In short,
Frederick Oberlander is not one to be trusted when it comes to matters of the
court.